I went back and looked at a post I published on April 4, 2007 when the 787 program crossed the 500 (and 14) order mark when JAL added five 787. Today, December 27, 2007, the 787 program crossed the golden mark: 787 orders, 790 to be exact. The milestone was crossed when British Airways firmed its order for 24 787 (8 x 787-8 + 16 x 787-9). This eclipses the 737 orders the 737NG program accumulated at the time of its first delivery to Southwest.
Somewhat ironically, I wrote this:
…by May 2008 when the first 787-881 is delivered to ANA the title may be revoked [for the 737] if Boeing hasn’t booked 738 firm orders. Why not shoot for 787?
Mission accomplished. Congratulations Boeing.
Image Courtesy The Boeing Company
There are other notable orders over the last few days also:
GOL: 74 737-800
Jeju Air: 5 737-800
Air Astana: 3 787-8
There are a few others floating around and the math is always fuzzy with firm orders, but the Boeing/Airbus order battle is even tighter than ever. Stay tuned.
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.